Anthony Jackson also made me aware of Casady.I figured if AJ likes him, then there has gotta be something to him.

There is an interesting Jefferson Airplane live album called IIRC "Bless it's tiny pointed head." .....or something close to that. It has some crazy tones there. He also played on some stuff with Hendrix. A few cuts on Electric Ladyland.

I will have to dig out my albums to figure out what he was on. Maybe someone could help me here?

I saw Casady do a clinic in Boston about ten years ago with Jorman Kaukemen. <sp?> AKA: Hot Tuna. They Just played duets and it sounded alright to me....I prefer his playing in a group setting. To me, his playing is nebulous. Hard to describe, yet very apparent. It just sounds natural and right.

FWIW-
I'm with both you guys...back in the day, Casady was not someone I paid a lot of attention to. I also read AJ's comments(I liked Bruce better & AJ sez Bruce was not an influence).
Anyway-
Maybe it's Casady's use of the pick + his lines are not really groove-oriented or phat-bottomed...they're more like counter-melodies & seem to float above what the drums & guitar are doin'?
I'm no authority on the Airplane, also waiting for a true Casady fan to speak out.

Lemme take a stab at it.....
back when I was just starting on the bass (after years of trumet and classical piano training), I had it in my head that there was more to this instrument than what people were showing/telling me. To me there was this deep and poignant sound which demonstrated possibilities far beyond the simple root-note pumping I was being told, at that time, was bass playing.

Then someone loaned me that very Airplane album, "Bless It's Pointed lLttle Head"...as well a "Crown Of Creation" and that first, eponymous Hot Tuna album. And, there it was, as if the heavens had opened up! Yes, an epiphany of sorts.
Suddenly, I knew what "bass-playing" really was.

In a brief description, which is difficult with a style as deep and as well formed as Casady's, Jack's playing puts the bass upfront, yet not in a "solo" context; rather on par with the other instruments. In fact, his lines engage in a musical dialouge with the other instruments, while never upstaging them. Unlike some bassists who's lines seem to poke around here and there without ever really getting anyplace, or having much direction (or much to say), Casady's lines always get right to the heart of the matter (and always in the most original, clever and wholly musical ways), develop along the manner of well formed melodies, ebb and flow with dynamics, tension and release, and always seem to know precisely where to go and when (the man has some incredible musical radar!). Root note pedals, suspensions (even suspensions as pedal tones), counter melodies, high register runs, chordal injections, harmony and unsion melodic development,masterful right and left hand dynamics,an uncanny an unflinching ability to groove as deep and as hard as anyone ever has, and an intensity of being "in the moment"...and tone from above! These are all sigantures of the "Casady Sound".
All these things are why AJ is so deeply moved by Casady's playing.

The man is also one of the deepest, and most profound "students" of bass tone ever. A pioneer of both bass amplification, bass overdrive (his verastone overdrive tone is still a standard by which many OD's are measured) and active electronics (his experiments, with Mr. Turner and Wickersham led to the development of active electronics and the Alembic bass....of which #0001 he was the owner of. Wel, when you think of "modern bass tone", Mr Casady pretty much invented it......or at very least had a considerable hand in that development!

I should point out that Casady mostly did, and still does, play fingerstyle (even in the pick-happy 60s he was using fingers). He has one of the greatest command and knowledge of right hand dynamics of any bassist alive. In the late 80s he did a brief stint using thumbpicks while playing with the band SVT, but has never been much of a flatpick user. His 60s tone with the Jefferson Airplane was considerably brighter than many of his contemporaries (starting with Fender Jazz basses..then to Guild Starfires with heavily modified active electronics then to the very first Alembic), yet always maintained a full bottom (there is a sort of famous story of him going to the Alembic "factory" and being shown a 60,000 watt amp they had on loan from the Air Force to do sub sonic testing with..Jack quickly quipped "that'll handle my lows, now what are gonna get to run the highs...") He was also one of the first to really use amp overdrive as a tone control (controlled thru right hand dynamics)..perhaps this is where the confusion over "pick-work" comes from.

I had the privilage of meeting him once, and (besides all of the above) he is a very kind, warm and generous man...who quite freely shared his vast knowledge of bass and music.

I have a few "bass heroes"; players who's music and playing has so deeply inspired me...it is, believe it or not a short list (there is a long list of musicians, but a fairly short list of bassists). Jack Casady is right up there. And...his name is on my bass, too.

PassinwindI am Passinwind and some of you are not.Supporting MemberCommercial User

I remember seeing the Airplane around 1970, as being absolutely crushed by the hugeness of Casady's sound...and this was outdoors. The modified Starfire (with all of 14 knobs I think) was totally unlike anything I'd experienced. The only other guy in that ballpark back then was Phil Lesh, but Jack had Miles and guys like that coming to check him out; you just can't overstate how iconic he was back then.

I'd recommend Bless It's Pointed Little Head, Crown of Creation, and the first two Tuna albums as most representative of his style and majesty. The solo on "Candyman" on the first, acoustic HT album is a monument to economy, finesse, tension and release, and all that good stuff.

As far as stylistic distinctiveness, it's all about the right hand, twitchy fingerstyle, eyebrows, and contrapuntal approach. A player who spoke with his bass, not his mouth. I'm kinda glad to finally hear him vocalize once in a while now, after his infamously mute stage presence back in the day.

He always struck me as being sorta like Phil Lesh-- lots of counteproint and melody, but with more of a groove. I certainly learned most of my right-hand stuff from him..... and Hot Tuna isn't just a duet, by the way.

The most definitive cuts off 'Bless its Pointed Little
Head' are '3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds', 'It's No Secret",
and 'Somebody to Love.' These versions are all
significantly different than the original studio
recordings. One of the things that always moved
me about his style was his authoratative use of
chord voicings slipped in to his funky lines. The
master of WHOMP!

I very recently acquired 'Live at the Fillmore
East' which,though recorded within months
of the BIPLH, is markedly different in tone
and treatment of the overlapping material.
The liner notes address this,noting that
this band and their material grew up and
evolved on the road, and they were always
exploring stylistically.

Note that when Paul Kantner recruited Jack
for the band, Jack was already of veteran of a
James Brown tour iirc, and James didn't use
any shabby musicians back then. Not bad
credentials for a kid heading into a rock band.
They broke through fast.

Personally, I think Jack is the most important
rock bassist to have emerged from the 60's and
70's, even more than Lesh or Bruce, and truly
made the Airplane's signature sound come
alive.

I've been a huge Lesh fan for years. I really love his style. Thanks to many of you I'm going to have to take a much closer look at Jefferson Airplane and JC. Your descriptions of his playing style sound very close to what I would say about Phil. I can't beleive I've missed out on Cassidy all these years. Time to head to the record store.

I personaly tried to model my playing after him. Jack's tone i would say lately is the most natural acoustic sound i have ever heard out of a professional bassist. Jack plays over the cords with some varience to add melody to his lines and is very tastefull as to what he does for a song.

I've been a huge Lesh fan for years. I really love his style. Thanks to many of you I'm going to have to take a much closer look at Jefferson Airplane and JC. Your descriptions of his playing style sound very close to what I would say about Phil. I can't beleive I've missed out on Cassidy all these years. Time to head to the record store.

Click to expand...

Whoa, dude, if you heard me play, you knew there were 3 guys
I learned from. Phil was always awesome . I have lived and breathed his lines for years. Jack just stoned my soul since 1966 and Jack Bruce knew no limits. Hard to stay on the one when that stuff is in your head..

BIPLH you will likely have to order, but it is still in print, afaik.

Do not pass GO, proceed to the next dedrecordhedshop and plunk down a few bones. My excuse for missing the 60's and 70's had different reasons ...

He also played on some stuff with Hendrix. A few cuts on Electric Ladyland.

Voodoo Chile

I will have to dig out my albums to figure out what he was on. Maybe someone could help me here?
Hot Tuna a few albums - all good
JA - All
Jefferson Starship, Blows against the Empire:
2 or 3 cuts, very star studded collaboration, Garcia, all the california
mob, could not find it quickly i the record box but found:

David Crosby's solo album ' If I Could Only Remember My Name'
he was there with Nash, Frieberg, Lesh, Hart, Garcia, Kreutzman, Young, Kantner, Slick, Mitchell, Geffen, Michael Shrieve and Greg Rolie. So all the old Fillmore West was there, Dead, 'plane and Santana

I saw Casady do a clinic in Boston about ten years ago with Jorman Kaukemen. <sp?> AKA: Hot Tuna. They Just played duets and it sounded alright to me....I prefer his playing in a group setting. To me, his playing is nebulous. Hard to describe, yet very apparent. It just sounds natural and right.

Click to expand...

He is also on Jorma Kaukonen's (note spelling) acoustic lesson tape
where he plays support backup, very easy and nice. Unobtrusive.
'The ACOUSTIC GUITAR of Jorma Kaukonen' pub by
Homspun Video. Throwback hippies near Woodstock NY put it out.
Good people.